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I think this is the path that most people did in Italy at that time, at least with Fipsas. I say this because the path you did is the same as my first instructors in fipsasI started diving with rebreathers (pure oxygen CC) in 1975.
I was 16.
Soon after I also started OC (twin tank - there were no single tanks here, at the time).
I abandoned rebreathers in 1981, and I did never see a good reason for coming back.
And I switched to single tank in 1985.
Some people could see this as going down, instead of going up...
CCR demands your commitment. There's little point in spending a short amount of time on the unit as you'll never get over the training 'hump'.I trained on an AP Evolution in 2011 at age 70, bought a used one in 2013, pimped it out a bit and dove in for a year, and sold it in 2014.
It was fun, but didn't suit my diving. I travel a lot, like to dive with my wife, and could not get enough time in on it to feel comfortable. Every dive felt like I was starting over. I was doing 100-120+ dives a year, but only a few on the CCR.
I'm 28 and did my mod1 earlier this year.I expect most to be between 40 and 50.
In general, scuba diving is an activity that does not appeal to the youngest, for various reasons. If a young person (let's say between 20 and 30) is passionate about this activity, it still takes time to complete a serious path before reaching the rebreather, even if this started to change a bit in recent years. The main problem is, however, the economic aspect in my opinion, as it takes more than 10k€ to start and the average person, with an average salary, I think has other priorities up to 45/50yo.
I would therefore be very curious to know the story of the people who switched to the reb before 40
Maybe it is not your case, but I believe that a lot also depends on where you live and if you are lucky enough to have around you, in your life, people who have this passion. For example, I live in a mountain village, where even today a diver is seen as a Martian and often arouses curiosity. Starting your diving career in a place like this means relying on a diving club, therefore relying on the advice, times and suggestions of experienced people and instructors who are part of it. In my case it was a club that only practiced recreational diving and inevitably with a limited experience on technical diving (The double tank was not already seen well, the rebreather instead was pure evil, for those who more or less had an idea of what is).I'm 28 and did my mod1 earlier this year.
Got back into diving about 3 years ago with an AOW card and it's been quite a journey to where I am today, don't even want to add up how much money I've spent.
I know a lot of divers in their early twenties who would like to go the tech path but cost is the main issue they all bring up for not doing it now.
Taking the step into the tech realm of diving can and will be pretty hard on your wallet, and most young people just don't have the financial stability to justify that cost.